I use to think- “Oh, I don’t have a choice” “I am a prisoner of my own decisions, or lack thereof.”
or even rationalizing and arguing and trying to make a decision that would be best. But that only left me overwhelmed and stagnate, and yes, a victim of my own expectations. In my attempts, not to make the wrong choice, I more often than not, didn’t make a choice at all.
Or so I often thought
I have been reminded once again, how that word CHOICE boils down to what I value, what are my priorities, legitimate or otherwise, and there is choices in each and every single thing I do.
I use to think “Oh, I don’t have enough time” “I am a prisoner of my own time management, or lack thereof”
or even rationalizing that if I had enough time, I would do the long laundry list of things that I have been saving until that rainy day, so to speak.
When I write my morning pages, I often look for quotes to inspire me. That is my choice of inspiration of how to start my day. and as I move along this journey, I am faced with the prospects of choices and time, every hour on the hour. Today, Dennis Waitely, spoke to me loud and clear. (of course, in my magic number of 3)
Here
There are two primary choices in life:
to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
and here
Our limitations and success will be based, most often on our own expectations for ourselves
What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon
and here
Time is the most precious element of human existence.
The successful person knows how to put energy into time and how to draw success from time.
What this says to me, is it is not the matter of choice or time, that holds me back, but my own expectations and my responsibility to myself.
Each day, that I accept the conditions of my life, that I expect too much or too little of myself, and put wasted energy into just thinking and not doing something with the wide open field of choices I have, the more I waste my time and choices.
My expectations of myself are high and it is my choice of where I spend my energy toward my responsibility of my health and well being.
I need to look at those expectations, not dwell on the perfect choice, and at the end of the day, to see the successes of my time and choice.
What can you choose today, to put energy and time, toward your health and well-being?
Loved this. The quotes, and what you had to say about it all. It’s long been a topic I’ve wrestled with. I especially connected to what you said about IF you had all this extra time, how you’d get that long list of stuff done you’d been saving to do… I had to laugh, and say eek! That’s me!
Thanks for this, I plan to re-read it and do some thinking. When I have more time… okay, just kidding about that!
You’re so right about the issue of ‘choice’. Even when I don’t feel as if things are under control, I should try (more) to remind myself that I can still CHOOSE my reaction or response to what’s happening around me.
I like that you’ve linked the notion of choice to expectations and – essentially our values and the bigger decisions we make about our lives.
I’m at a point where I’m thinking about my future so need to remember that my CHOICES need to be shaped by where I want to ‘go’.
PS. Had forgotten you do ‘morning pages’. I keep meaning to restart!
Choices — a juicy subject. Three (your number!) things come to my mind.
1. Choices can be conscious or unconscious. I used to navigate life by making unconscious choices — what I call decision by default. These days I try to make my choices a bit more conscious, although I’m sure there are still many that are unconscious.
2. I think there’s another really important thing to remember when it comes to choices. Very few choices we make in life are irrevocable. We are allowed to change our mind.
3. We are allowed to make different choices — different from the ones we’ve made before, different from the ones our parents made, different from the ones others have made, different from the ones expected of us.
Thought provoking blog. When I feel limited in choices, I start the wheel of possibilities – an act I find most helpful to expand my options and I don’t have to choose any.
!! May I vote to have Carol Hess be your guest poster?!
I really, really like this post, and your blog as a whole, really inspiring. I am struggling at the moment with the idea that I didn’t ‘choose’ my eating disorder but this has made me think – I can choose how to approach it, deal with it, live with it.in a positive manner.
The quotes are amazing.
I’ll be reading